What Factors Predict Differences in CLAST Performance among Community Colleges? Research Report No. 90-12R.

Morris, Cathy; Belcher, Marcia J.

In 1990, a study was conducted at Florida's Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) to identify institutional factors that predict pass rates on the College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST). Statewide results of the October 1989 administration of the CLAST were used for the study, including the scores of all students who indicated that they had completed 60 or more credits toward the associate degree and who were writing the test for the first time. The percentage of students passing all four subtests of the CLAST was recorded for each community college in the state. The study assessed the validity of the following institutional characteristics as predictors of CLAST pass rates: minority enrollment, the percentage of entering students with below college-level basic skills, student attrition before the CLAST, and institutional size. Findings indicated the following: (1) pass rates ranged from a low of 46% at MDCC to 83% at Indian River, one of the small colleges; (2) the combined average pass rate for the state's community colleges was 69%; (3) among the colleges, MDCC had the largest minority enrollment (73%), the largest percentage of students requiring basic skills remediation (65%), and the highest proportion of remedial to college-level enrollments; and (4) for the colleges as a whole, low CLAST pass rates were positively correlated with high minority enrollments and a high proportion of remedial to college-level enrollments. Based on the study finding that percentage of minority students was a more significant predictor of an institution's CLAST pass rate than either the basic skills level of entering students or the percentage of students being screened out before taking the CLAST, it was concluded that state funding for special instructional support for minority students be allocated on the basis of the number and percentage of minority students at an institution. (GFW)